Work holder for electroplating



May 31, 1960 H. A. NALl 2,938,850

WORK HOLDER FOR ELBCTROPLATING Filed June 10, 1957 WORK HOLDER FOR ELECTROPLATING Hans Adolph Nali, Rockford, 111., assignor of one-half to William E. Collins, Rockford, Ell.

Filed June 10, 1957, Ser. No. 664,828

10 Claims. (Cl. 204297) This invention relates to work holders for use in electro-plating baths for suspension of articles to be plated, such as trays and the like.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive combination work holder and hanger, made almost entirely of wire and designed to enable quicker insertion and removal of work, and also insure more positive holding Without danger of scratching the surface or leaving any spots unplated.

A handy feature of the present device is the provision of a removable yoke piece disposed transversely in the elongated vertical frame thereof in upwardly spaced relation to a lower pair of claws or hooks on which the work is adapted to rest, the yoke piece being held in place at the middle thereof by a vertical spring arm which allows the yoke to be swung easily from a raised retracted position downwardly to engage the work from above with a pair of claws or hooks provided on the op posite ends thereof, thus holding the work securely and also permitting much quicker insertion and removal of work than has been possible heretofore with other devices. The yoke piece, being removable, may have another one of a different size and shape substituted for it, and thus, if two, three or even more different sizes and shapes of the yoke pieces are provided, a large variety of shapes and sizes of work pieces may be handled with a single device and the plater may have much less money invested in such equipment than has heretofore been necessary.

Referring to the drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 are a side view and front view, respectively, of a work holder made in accordance with my invention;

Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of two out of a larger number of different yoke pieces adapted for use on the holder shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the yoke piece of Fig. 4 being the same as that appearing in Figs. 1 and 2, and

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, the work holder is indicated generally by the reference numeral 6 and is shown suspended as a hanger on a metallic cross-bar 7 that serves as a conductor for the plating current, the work holder being substantially entirely of wire construction to serve also as a conductor, making electrical contact with the work W through the hooks or claws 8 and 9 provided on the lower end of its elongated vertical frame 10, so that the silver or other metal being used for plating and which is provided usually in the form of balls in a basket forming the anode and the electro-plating bath will be transferred to the work in the flow of current. The work W is supported mainly on the hooks or claws 8 and 9 which engage the rim of the work from below at circumferentially spaced points, but a yoke 11 mounted on the frame 19 provides another pair of hooks or claws 12 and 13 on its opposite ends arranged to engage the rim of the work from above atcircumferentially spaced points nite rates Patent 0 to retain it on the work holder. The frame 10 ofthe work holder is made of two pieces of high carbon spring wire 14 and 15 which are welded together at 16 and are spread apart, as indicated at 17, and secured together in spaced parallel relationship by three cross bars 18, 19 and 20 at spaced points along their length, the protruding lower end portions being bent in downwardly and forwardly diverging relation, as indicated at 21,. and the hook or claw 8 being formed on the lower extremity of wire 14 and the hook or claw 9 on the lower extremity of wire 15. The upper end portion 22 of wire 14 is bent downwardly and rearwardly, as indicated at 23, to form a hook 24 to hang on the bar 7 and make good electrical contact with it. The wire 14 is bent upwardly at the lower end of hook 24, as at 25, and the upwardly extending portion 26 is bent at right angles, as at 27, to provide a forwardly reaching handle grip portion 28 by means of which the operator can easily handle the work holder in placing the work in the bath and later removing it.

The yoke 11 is made of a single piece of the same kind of wire as is used in the frame 10, bent generally U-shaped, and has a flat metal strip 29 soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the cross portion 30 thereof, as indicated at 31 in Fig. 5, the strip 29 being disposed in a plane approximately at right angles to the plane of the yoke, so that when this strip is in abutment with the back of the frame 10, as shown in Fig. 1, with the yoke 11. in work holding position, the yoke will be engaged fairly firmly on the frame and will not tend to rock and accordingly will hold the work more securely. The cross bar 20, against which the cross piece 29 has abutment in the holding position of the yoke, also serves to prevent downward displacement of the yoke and support the same in right angle relationship to the frarne 10. A spring wire arm 32 which is rigidly secured at its upper end, as at 33, to the middle of the cross bar 19 tends normally to engage at its lower end portion the middle of the cross bar 20 but is adapted to be flexed 'rearwardly to'receive the cross portion of the yoke 11 between it and the frame 10 so as to hold the yoke 11 on the frame and yet permit the yoke to be swung about its cross portion as an axis upwardly to a retracted or outof-the-way position or downwardly to a work holding position, as indicated by the are 33 in Fig. 1. The spring arm 32 may also be deflected to the rear enough to permit removal of the yoke 11 and insertion of any one of three or more other yokes of different sizes and shapes, like the yoke 11' shown in Fig. 3, for example. All parts of yoke 11 corresponding to parts of yoke 11 have been similarly numbered, using prime numbers. It should also be understood that although the yoke 11 is shown as disposed immediately above the cross bar 20, a still wider range of sizes and shapes of articles could be accommodated by adjusting the yoke bodily upwardly on the frame 1%), as is obviously permitted by the flexibility of arm 32.

To avoid wasting of the precious metal used in plating and also to make the work holders last indefinitely, the frame 19 is covered with an insulating rubberlike material, as indicated at 34, from a point near the hook or claws 8 and 9 upwardly to a point above the welded connection 16 between the wires 14 and 15, thus taking care of at least more than the length that is immersed in the plating bath, leaving only the claws *8 and 9 to be plated with the work. In like manner, the yokes 11 and 11' are also covered with insulating material 34 on all surfaces except the claws 12 and 13, and 12' and 13. To provide additional wall thickness of yieldable material and thus help to hold the yoke 11, or 11', more securely, a rubber sleeve 35 is provided on the arm 32 covering at least that portion of the length thereof that is apt to come into contact with the cross portion of the yoke 11 or 1-1', and the coating 34 preferably is applied after the sleeve 35 is assembled on the arm 32 so that the coating covers the sleeve and holds it is place. I

In operation the yoke 11 or 11' is normally disposed swung upwardlyto the dotted line retracted position indicated in Fig. 1. There is, therefore, nothing to interfere with easy' placing of a tray or the like to be plated on the claws 8 and 9 and thereafter swinging theyoke '11 down to engage the claws 12 and 13 on the work from above. There is only point'contact with the work at each of the four claws, and consequently, no spots are left unplated. After the work has been plated it can be removed by swinging the yoke 11 upwardly again to the retracted position. It is obvious that this permits quick handling of the work and yet in neither of these operations is'there any danger of the work being scratched, as happened so frequently with'other work'holders, causing many pieces to be' rejected upon inspection after plating.

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The interchangeability of yokes 11 and 11 enables a much wider range of uses of a single holder and hence with a small fraction of the number of work holders a plater can take care of most any sizes and shapes of work to be plated.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

.1. A work holder for a plating bath comprising an elongated substantially vertical frame having a suspension hook on the upper end and having upwardly directed work supporting hooks in laterally spaced relation on the lower end, a yoke mounted on said frame transversely thereof in longitudinally spaced relation to said work supporting hooks, said yoke having hook means provided thereon forengagement with the work to retain it in supportedposition for plating, the yoke being generally U- shaped and being pivotally mounted on the frame by means of the cross-portion of the U to swing from a position in which the hook means is in retracted relationship to the work to another position in which the hook means is engageable with the work, and spring means yieldingly engaging the cross-portion of the U 'for re leasably holding said yoke in retracted position.

2. A work holder for a plating bath comprising an elongated substantially vertical frame having a suspension hook on the upper end and having upwardly directed work supporting hooks in laterally spaced relation on the lower end, a yoke mounted on said frame transversely thereof in longitudinally spaced relation to said work supporting hooks, said yoke having hook means provided thereon for engagement with the work to retain it in supported position for plating, the yoke being pivotally mounted on the frame to swing from a position in which the hook means is in retracted relationship to the work to another position in which the hook means is engageable with the work, and a spring arm extending lengthwise of said frame, the springable free end portion of which is disposed in transverse relation to and engages the pivotal middle portion of said yoke to hold the same under spring tension in either retracted or operative position.

3. A work holder for a plating bath comprising an elongated substantially vertical frame having a suspension hook on the upper end and having upwardly directed work supporting hooks in laterally spaced relation on the lower end, ayoke mounted on said frame transversely thereof in longitudinally spaced relation to said work supporting hooks, said yoke having hook means provided thereon for engagement with the work to retain it in supported position for plating, the yoke being pivotally mounted on the frame to swing from a position in which the hook means is in retracted'relationship to the work to another position in which the hook means is engageable with the work, and a spring arm extending lengthwise of said frame, the springable free end portion of which is disposed in transverse relation to and engages the pivotal middle portion of said yoke to hold the same under spring tension in either retracted or operative position, said spring arm also permitting slidable adjustment of said yoke lengthwise relative to said frame to accommodate different sizes and shapes of work. v

4. A work holder for an electro-plating bath comprising an elongated substantially vertical frame having a suspension hook provided on its upper end, said frame including two substantially parallel spaced'side members which are rigidly interconnected by two vertically spaced cross-members, the side members having below the lower cross-member lower end portions extending indownwardly and forwardly diverging relation and carrying hooks on their lower extremities for supporting engagement under a piece of work to be plated, and a yoke disposed in transverse relationship to the lower portion of said frame having arms on the opposite end portions thereof extending in outwardly diverging relationship carrying'hooks'on the outer ends thereof for engagement with'the work to retain it while supported on the first mentioned hooks, said yoke being pivotally adjustable with respect to said frame at the lower cross-member to swing from a retracted position to an operative position.

5. A work holder as set forth in claim 4, including a spring arm rigidly mounted at its one end on the upper cross-member and extending downwardly behind the lower cross-member, the lower end portion of said arm being springable rearwardly to admit'the yoke between it and the frame and being engageable thereafter with the yoke to'hold it releasably in adjusted position relative to the frame.

6. A work holder as set forth in claim 4, including a spring arm rigidly mounted at its one end on the upper cross-member and extending downwardly behind the lower cross-member, the lower end portion of said arm being springable rearwardly to admit the yoke'between it and the frame and being engageable thereafter with the yoke to hold it releasably in adjusted position relative to'the' frame, said spring arm also being springable to permit the yoke to be adjusted upwardly between the arm and frame away from the lower cross-member to accommodate different sizes and shapes of work.

7. A-work holder as set' forth in claim 4, including a spring arm rigidly mounted'at its oneend on the upper cross-member" and extending downwardly behind the lower cross-member, the lower end portion of said arm being springable rearwardly to admit the yoke between it and the frame and being engageable thereafter with the yoke to hold it releasably in adjusted'position relative to the frame, the construction also permitting substitution of another yoke of a different size or shape to accommodate diiferent sizes and shapes of work.

8. A work holder asset forth in claim 4, in which the yoke is made from a single piece of wire, the opposite end portions of which are bent to define the hooks, the middle portion of the wire of said yoke being substantially straight and having an elongated flat plate secured thereto lengthwise thereof for non-rocking abutment with the frame in the operative position of the yoke.

9. A work holder for a plating bath comprising an elongated substantially vertical frame having a suspension hook on the upper end and having upwardly directed work supporting hooks in laterally spaced relation on the lower end, a yoke mounted on said frame transversely thereof in longitudinally spaced relation to said work supporting hooks, said yoke having hook means provided thereon for engagement with the, work to retain it in supported position for plating, the yoke being generally U-shaped and being pivotally mounted on the frame by means of the cross-portion of the U to swing from a position in which the hook means. is in retracted relationship to the work toanother position in which the hook means is engageable with the work, and spring means yieldably engaging the cross-portion of the U for releasably holding said yoke in either the retracted or operative position.

10. A work holder for a plating bath comprising an elongated substantially vertical frame having a suspension hook on the upper end and having upwardly directed work supporting hooks in laterally spaced relation on the lower end, a yoke mounted on said frame transversely thereof in longitudinally spaced relation to said work supporting hooks, said yoke having hook means provided thereon for engagement with the work to retain it in sup- 10 ported position for plating, the yoke being pivotally mounted on the frame to swing from a position in which the hook means is in retracted relationship to the work to another position in which the hook means is engageable with the work, and a spring arm extending lengthwise of said frame, the springable free end portion of which is disposed in transverse relation to and engages the pivotal middle portion of said yoke to hold the same releasably under spring tension, whereby said yoke is removable and replaceable and another yoke may be substituted of a difierent size and shape to accommodate difierent sizes and shapes of work.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Belke Plating Rack Manual, Belke Mfg. Co., Chicago, 111., June 1947, pages 43 and 45. 

1. A WORK HOLDER FOR A PLATING BATH COMPRISING AN ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL FRAME HAVING A SUSPENSION HOOK ON THE UPPER END AND HAVING UPWARDLY DIRECTED WORK SUPPORTING HOOKS IN LATERALLY SPACED RELATION ON THE LOWER END, A YOKE MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME TRANSVERSELY THEREOF IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACED RELATION TO SAID WORK SUPPORTING HOOKS, SAID YOKE HAVING HOOK MEANS PROVIDED THEREON FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WORK TO RETAIN IT IN SUPPORTED POSITION FOR PLATING, THE YOKE BEING GENERALLY USHAPED AND BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE FRAME BY MEANS OF THE CROSS-PORTION OF THE U TO SWING FROM A POSITION IN WHICH THE HOOK MEANS IS IN RETRACTED RELATIONSHIP TO THE WORK TO ANOTHER POSITION IN WHICH THE HOOK MEANS IS ENGAGEABLE WITH THE WORK, AND SPRING MEANS YIELDINGLY ENGAGING THE CROSS-PORTION OF THE U FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING SAID YOKE IN RETRACTED POSITION. 